Environmental justice and Roma communities in Central and Eastern Europe

Krista Harper*, Tamara Steger, Richard Filčák

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

Environmental injustice and the social exclusion of Roma communities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has roots in historical patterns of ethnic exclusion and widening socioeconomic inequalities following the collapse of state socialism and the transition to multi-party parliamentary governments in 1989. In this article, we discuss some of the methodological considerations in environmental justice research, engage theoretical perspectives on environmental inequalities and social exclusion, discuss the dynamics of discrimination and environmental protection regarding the Roma in CEE, and summarize two case studies on environmental justice in Slovakia and Hungary. We argue that, when some landscapes and social groups are perceived as 'beyond the pale' of environmental regulation, public participation and civil rights, it creates local sites for externalizing environmental harms.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)251-268
Number of pages18
JournalEnvironmental Policy and Governance
Volume19
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009

Keywords

  • Central and Eastern Europe
  • Environmental inequalities
  • Environmental justice
  • Hungary
  • Roma (Gypsies)
  • Slovak Republic

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Environmental justice and Roma communities in Central and Eastern Europe'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this